Number One Fan
by Zilver Wings
Summary: He is a popular actor who is on the verge of losing his career. Feeling down, he goes back to the town he spent his teens in, to trace back his memories with a certain auburn-haired girl. Will fate thrust upon him and let him meet her once again? 2 shot
1. Chapter 1

Number One Fan

Number One Fan

By Zilver Wings

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Summary: He is a popular actor who is on the verge of losing his career. Feeling depressed, he goes back to Tomoeda, the town he spent his teenage years in, to trace back his memories with a certain auburn-haired girl. Will fate thrust upon him and let him meet her once again? Two-shot

--

He could see that it was a pleasant day even with his view restricted by his cape and large sunglasses to avoid him from being recognized by the public.

As he crossed the road to the mall, he saw the road sparkling with the sun's glaze. Although it was a summer afternoon, the bright sunlight did not cause a scorching heat on his back, but rather, a comforting warmth, as if someone was supporting him from behind with a warm hand. He scoffed at his own simile. How ironic to think that when he was on the verge of losing his career.

His red-checkered shirt made a ripple as a gentle breeze blew by. Unfortunately, the nice weather failed to sooth his boiling insides.

He quickened his footpace and entered the mall.

He savored the feeling of the sudden coolness brought by the air conditioner as he pushed open the doors of the mall. It was a rare thing to experience this since he was always out under direct contact with the sun for filming his newest movie for the past few months, which was before he decided to take a break from his nerve-breaking career.

It was the mall he hadn't gone to ever since he graduated from high school. Ever since the last time he went to have tea with Sakura to discuss about their future. Even though she was talented in sports, she had decided to take after her oyajii's footsteps and study History in a local university. He went to the same university with her for a short while, deciding to major in Mathematics. However, just after the first semester, he had to drop out due to the heavy workload.

He would never forget the fall of her face when she heard about this. She probably knew then and there that he was going to leave her. And he did. Tomoeda was too small of a place for him. Shortly after the drop out, his manager arranged for him to move to Tokyo so that he would be nearer to his agency.

She was his one and only crush in his twenty-four years of life. With his fame and looks, the statement seemed almost too absurd to be true. But it was. All those rumors about him going out with supermodels or famous actresses in the following years were all stories the paparazzi made up to boost their sales.

Actually, he really didn't mind those rumors that much. In fact, it helped him a lot during his rise to fame. It was just that, he felt uncomfortable to think that she might've seen them.

He felt his body temperature cool down as he surveyed the mall, distracting him from the telephone call he received earlier this morning, which caused him to slap the receiver down in frozen rage.

Just then, he heard his stomach rumble, and he grimaced. He still hadn't eaten anything today.

After knowing about the news over the call, emotions clouded over his rational thinking, leading him to forget to take his wallet before snatching his car keys and leaving home, and somehow, find himself in Tomoeda three hours later for some strange reason. So now, on top of being anger and frustrated, he was famished and tired.

Oh well, there was nothing he could do about it, so he decided to ignore his protesting stomach and continue to look around the mall.

The mall really had changed a lot since the last time he visited. Not only had it expanded and had an addition of two floors to the original three, the décor was much more sophisticated, and the shops had changed from selling mostly stationery and food items to clothing and luxury goods.

In many ways, the mall was like him. Who would have thought that a sixteen-year old Chinese boy who lived in some small unknown town in Japan would make his name around the world eight years later as a popular Japanese actor?

Although he was quite popular in high school because of his handsome face and intelligence, he was not a social butterfly, and rarely participated in extra curricular activities. His big break came only because he was spotted by his current agency when he went with his friend to audition for some minor role in a Japanese live-action drama.

His family was disappointed when they heard about his decision to drop out of school to purge after his career, and tried to talk him out of it, saying that it was an unrealistic dream. However, being young and ambitious, he ignored his family's disapproval and embraced this possibility of becoming rich and famous. Gradually, he distant himself from them and rarely went to Hong Kong, unless promotions were held there.

But well, his family was probably right. Eight years was his time limit. He had successfully ruined his future at the young age of twenty-four.

He turned his face to the left, and his eyes darkened at the sight.

A few workers on the first floor had begun to loosen the strings tied around the metal poles that held a banner featuring him and his supposedly newest detective movie. It reminded him of the darned phone call from his manager once again.

"Li Syaoran, we have dismissed your terrible attitude in the reporter's meeting last month as a one-time thing, but then, you go on disappearing for two freaking weeks, and successfully undid your role in your newest movie. The company said that they don't need an irresponsible and arrogant actor, and to say the truth, I can't possibly agree more.

Just because you are popular now doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. We can bring another boy to fame matching yours in a matter of months. The company doubts your dedication to your career and hesitates to continue the contract with you, since your current one is going to end in three month's time. Come to the company tomorrow morning, otherwise, we'll know your decision. Goodbye."

Syaoran felt his emotions rise again. Seriously, what did they think of him as, superman? For eight years, he had continued to star in popular dramas and many movies nonstop, which became box- office hits. Between filming, he also had to model and join activities to raise his popularity. It was not a thing he enjoyed doing as he was never really good at socializing, and having to fake a smile all the time was irritating for him.

He rarely got a night of decent sleep because of the hectic schedule, and some times even had to take pills because he had insomnia due to the pressure. Unlike other normal people, he rarely got a break that could last for three whole days.

He knew it was the road he had chosen himself, and should not complain. But after receiving his physical report from the doctor a few weeks ago and found out that his heart was starting to fail him because of the excessive amount of work, he decided to take an unannounced break himself. He had only meant to be absent for one to two days, and yet, the more free time he got, the more time he had to review the work he had done in the last few years, and the days slowly turned into weeks.

He felt nothing but a puppet to his company, doing whatever they had set for him without even given the chance to protest or refuse. He didn't even get as much money as he thought he would as they had ripped off most of them from him.

His converse sneakers gave an angry squelch as he dug his foot into the white-tiled floor to as a form of release.

Suddenly, he felt someone bump into him and he broke out of his trance and looked down at the person, using both of his arms to support the person at the same time.

It was a petite girl with long auburn hair, holding two large bags of shopping. Her face was facing the floor, but he could still see that she was wearing a white, oversized T-shirt and shorts. Wearing oversized clothing used to be Sakura's favorite too.

Petite, auburn hair, wearing oversized shirts…

He felt his heart begin to race as he noted the similarities between the girl and his once crush.

Could it possibly be…

The girl looked up.

To be continued…

--

Yes, my exams are almost over, except the orals, but I can just ignore them. My summer vacation starts from now, whoppee! I'll update my other stories one by one soon, so I hope you can all wait.

This story has been on my mind for quite some time. Wrote it immediately the day after my last exam, so feel honored! D

In this story, I just tried to imagine myself as a popular actor and what my response to my life will be blah blah since it's a dream that's never going to come true for me, lol.

Got the title from the Taiwan version of Hana Kimi. This time, I tried to use another writing style, it's mostly composed of flashbacks in a non-linear structure, hope that it hasn't been too confusing. I guess writing short stories are better for me cause I can just finish it once-and-for-all and not drag it for a few years. (Okay, I hope not)

If any of you have read my other stories, please review and tell me if my writing has improved or worsened. That way, I'll know if my two years of studying Eng Lit. has either helped me improve my writing, or caused my 'downfall'.

To those who are worried that this story is not going to be a completed for a long time, don't, because it's probably only going to consist of two chapters, and I already have a clear idea what I want to write for the next chapter. Now REVIEW! Thank you velly muchu.


	2. Chapter 2

Number One Fan

Number One Fan

By Zilver Wings

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Summary: He is a popular actor who is on the verge of losing his career. Feeling depressed, he goes back to Tomoeda, the town he spent his teenage years in, to trace back his memories with a certain auburn-haired girl. Will fate thrust upon him and let him meet her once again? Two-shot

--

His hopes went down.

She had bright blue eyes, and looked no older than twenty. She wasn't Sakura.

"Gomenasai! I wasn't watching where" Her voice faltered, and he started to panic when he saw the flash of recognition on her face. He remembered something like that happening years ago on the street. The little girl he had helped suddenly started screeching, and in the end, he had to escape to avoid the growing amount of people surrounding him and asking for his autograph. From that day on, he learnt not to go out on his own without his disguise on.

Syaoran was prepared to run, but then, the girl's face dimmed after she surveyed his clothing.

She stood up and walked past him, as if in a daze, all the while muttering to herself. "It can't possibly be Li Syaoran. What would he be doing here in Tomoeda. And besides, he says he likes to wear leather, so it can't be him. I can't be wrong. After all, I'm am his number one fan."

Syaoran looked down at his red sweater and jeans and gave a little sneer as he walked on. Yeah right, she was definitely his number one fan when she couldn't even recognize him standing in front of her.

But at the same time, he felt a new surge of panic hit him. It was not the panic of having others to recognize him, but the panic of having people _not_ recognize him.

It was contradicting, he knew, but it was how he felt. He often complained to the media of not being able to roam around freely because he was a superstar, but now, he realize, it is actually a virtue. It's a wonderful feeling to be in the spotlight and have people surround and admire you. It was one thing he would certainly miss if he decides to change his career.

He also felt lonely. No one really understood him.

His relations with his family had deteriorated.

His supposedly supporters, he now saw, only knew of him in front of the screen- the fake dream boy he pretended to be in front of the camera, the one who was good-tempered, never frowned, and was fun-loving; the one whom teenage girls loved, the one who wasn't the real him.

"_And besides, he says he likes to wear leather, so it can't be him." _What a ridiculous interpretation. Just because he likes leather, it doesn't mean that he can't wear other material! And besides, after giving that statement about his liking leather in a magazine some years ago, the presents he got from his fans were almost all leather-made products. And to say the truth, he really wasn't that fond of leather any more.

He also hadn't gotten any friends. He didn't make any in his career because he was wary of other's aims to get close to him. He lost contact of his only one in high school as he lost his cell during his first trip from Tomoeda to Tokyo.

"_Number one fan." _What a familiar phrase! Sakura had said it countless times before too, and yet, she was gone from his life in the end as well.

He still remembered his first meeting her. Even thought it has already been seven years, the memory still stayed with him, as vivid and clear as yesterday.

It was a bright and sunny morning, just like today. He was sitting in his seat in the classroom, propping his head with one arm as he listened half-heartedly to the usual excited chatter of his classmates about his role in his latest drama that was being aired at that time.

He was about to ignore his classmates and get some sleep when the bell rang, and Tereda-sensei entered the room promptly, much to his annoyance.

"Ohayo minna-san." He waited until everyone settled down. "Today, we're going to have a new student. Please welcome her with a warm hand."

He heard whispers from the boys sitting around him.

"It's a her!"

"Yeah, I heard that she's pretty stunning."

"We're all in luck then."

"Except Syaoran. It's probably no big deal to him. After all, he gets to meet celebrities all the time."

He smirked at the last comment. It was true.

The new girl stepped in during the applause and stood in front of the class.

To him, the girl was not exactly 'stunning', but was still quite pretty in a cute way with her messy shoulder-length auburn hair and large, expressive emerald eyes which showed nothing but anticipation as she scanned the crowd eagerly, and stopped when her eyes landed on his. He knitted his eyebrows in confusion at her intense gaze.

"Why don't you introduce yourself, Kinomoto-san?" Tereda said warmly to the girl.

The girl's eyes left his and she turned to smile at the whole class brightly.

"Ohayo, my name is Kinomoto Sakura. My otou-san is an archaeologist, and we moved here because he has just been employed by a university near this school as a professor. I also have an onii-chan who is three years older than me. Nice to meet you all."

After the whole class exchanged their greetings, Tereda-sensei asked Sakura to find an empty seat. Syaoran had a feeling she was going to sit in front of him. And she did.

He soon realized that she was a fan of his. She showed him her schedule book and pencil box, which had articles and photos of him stuck on it.

At first, he gave her the cold shoulder, and she seemed to be quite intimidated by him. But because they were neighbors, they were often partners in various discussions and projects.

Slowly, he realized that she was not one of those crazy fan girls who stalked and chased after him. Instead, she just admired his work silently and never bothered him with it. If she didn't tell him, he would never have guessed that she was one of his supporters.

Gradually, they became closer and were good friends.

Even though Syaoran was normally a quiet person, even more after being celebrated, he opened up to her, because she, although was usually cheerful and talkative, was also a good listener and never judged him as a celebrity.

He couldn't remember exactly when, but he started to develop feelings for her. However, because of his manager's warning, he kept these feelings to himself. But he must have shown it somehow, because Touya, Sakura's brother, was always very hostile towards him whenever he saw him with Sakura. But then again, Touya was pretty rude to every male who came near Sakura.

She also became the only one he could complain about his work to. Whenever he felt tired and depressed, she never failed to get a chuckle out of him with her mock serious, "I'm always going to be your number one fan!"

Syaoran shook his head at the fond memory. What use was there to live in the past? It was worse enough to lose his job without having to regret about not confessing his love. He never even knew if she felt the same way or not.

Out of the blue, another person bumped into him again.

Syaoran sighed in irritation. What was it with him and people not watching where they were going? The last time he checked, the mall was pretty much empty.

"Gomen, I'm just not really used to wearing high heels."

The person gave an embarrassed laugh. Syaoran looked down to see the woman standing up slowly, trying to steady herself.

"Really, I am"

Once again, the woman stopped in mid-sentence, just like the girl before, but this time, Syaoran was also just as shocked.

Emerald eyes, auburn hair.

Although she had on light make-up and was wearing a pink suit, there was no mistaking her. It seemed that the woman felt the same. Her eyes flashed and they said simultaneously,

"Syaoran?"

"Sakura!"

--

"It's been such a long time already. I feel really honored that someone as famous as you actually remembers me." Sakura joked, but Syaoran could see the hurt in her eyes. They were still as expressive.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to not contact you. I lost my cell on the plane and"

"You could've entered the school web and searched for it." She cut in. She still had on a polite smile, but her tone was no longer flippant.

He fell silent. She was right, if he really wanted, he could've found her. Then why hadn't he? He felt really confused.

"Well, anyway," Sakura tried to change the topic. "guess what? I've just been employed by our high school as a History teacher. I feel so happy! Of course, it's going to be quite a drag to be forced to wear heels everyday. I don't even know why sneakers won't do."

Syaoran felt dazed, but he still congratulated her.

"I heard about you and your new movie on the television." Sakura said in hesitation.

Syaoran grimaced.

"I guess the whole world knows by now." He complained grumpily. "It's just as well, I'm sick of my job, I'm going to quit."

Sakura widened her eyes.

"But you've been doing it for eight years? And you're at the peak of it, why quit now?"

Syaoran stayed silent.

Sakura continued. "It's the road you chose, no one forced you. Because of it, you sacrificed a lot, and I can tell, you do enjoy it. What you're experiencing now is probably just a mood swing. Don't let it ruin your future."

"How do you know for sure? You're not me." He bit back, feeling a bit annoyed.

Her eyes turned soft, and she looked at him warmly, her previous cold exterior gone.

"Because I'm your number one fan."

Syaoran was lost in speech at her words. This phrase. He had longed to hear her say this to him for years. And now, his dream came true.

He was really touched. She still remembered.

He gathered up his courage and blurted out, "I love you!"

Sakura looked a bit surprise at the sudden outburst, but she did not look really shocked.

"I know."

Syaoran was confused. He was sure he never told her.

"How about you?" He asked tentatively.

"I used to have romantic feelings for you too." She said calmly, without any emotion, as if she was just discussing the weather with him.

"Then, why, why didn't you tell me?"

"I planned to, when we were in university. But then, I heard that you were going to leave for Tokyo."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. He couldn't connect the two things together.

"You might not realize why you didn't want to contact me after you went to Tokyo, but I know the real reason. It's because choosing to stay with me and going to Tokyo was a dilemma for you. In the end, you chose your career. However, you were afraid that calling me would shake your determination."

"It's not that," Syaoran tried to deny it, but he couldn't seem to find any other words.

"I don't blame you for it."

Syaoran looked at Sakura, who was gazing out the window.

"_I used to have romantic feelings for you too."_

"Used to have?" He asked abruptly.

Sakura put her hands on the table and turned to smile at him. Syaoran saw the diamond ring on her hand, and he felt himself grow cold.

"Y…you're engaged?"

She nodded.

"Met him in university in my second year." Sakura said briefly, not wanting to hurt Syaoran's feelings any further.

"Oh."

It was something he hadn't expected. But much to his surprise, he didn't feel his heart ache as much as he thought it would. (A/N: I've always questioned about the heart actually feeling anything. But since this is just a story, I'll not doodle on this matter.) In fact, he actually felt relieved. He had always been afraid that Sakura would blame him for leaving her. Although he couldn't deny that he felt a bit jealous, a part of him was glad for her that she found someone to lean on, even though it wasn't him.

He could let go of the guilt that he carried with him for six years.

Sakura looked straight into his eyes, as if urging him something.

Suddenly, Syaoran knew what to do. The first thing he was going to do after he gets home, he reminded himself, is to set his alarm clock to 8:00 am. The agency opens at nine, so it would be perfect.

As for Sakura? She was right, he chose his career, not her. She deserves much better. Perhaps what he felt all these years after he left her wasn't love anymore, but guilt.

'Sakura, you aren't my number one fan, but my number one friend.'

.The End.

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Strange story. Rereading it now, I don't really understand how this came up. It's not a really interesting story, but still, it feels great to finish another story.

I did think of having Sakura and Syaoran end up together, but then, life isn't always so perfect.

I might consider deleting this story later on, but for now, it's up for all to read.

Read and Review please.


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